cruz, who told values voter today that it's the democrats who are on the defense. >> look, the democrats are feeling the heat. in my view, the house of representatives needs to keep doing what it's been doing, which is standing strong! >> yes! that's because mr. cruz has been commissioning his own polls, and listening to his own lunacy instead of reading the surveys that everyone else sees. like our latest nbc "wall street journal" poll, the one that nbc news political director chuck todd called an unmitigated disaster for the republican party. to start, by a 53-31 margin, more people blame congressional republicans for the shutdown than the president. 70%, including 40% of republicans, believe congressional republicans are putting their own political agenda ahead of what's good for the country. that's doing no favors for the party brand with a 53% having a negative view of the gop, the worst rating for republicans in the polls nearly 25 year-year history. oh, and nearly half of those surveyed now want democrats to lead congress. a margin of eight points, the largest lead since 2009. mr.